Which to use
“liken” and “linken” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #39,513
- “liken” frequency rank
- #1,115
- “linken” frequency rank
- 40628
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | liken | linken |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | etwas nach seinem Geschmack finden, Wohlgefallen an etwas finden; jemanden leiden mögen | jemanden hereinlegen, täuschen |
Where the eye mixes liken and linken
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. liken runs 5 letters (CVCVC) against linken's 6 (CVCCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Why the eye confuses liken with linken
A purely visual mix-up. liken ([ˈlaɪ̯kn̩]) and linken ([ˈlɪŋkn̩]) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 40628, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
liken is recorded at frequency rank #39,513, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈlaɪ̯kn̩]. linken is at rank #1,115, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈlɪŋkn̩].
Glosses for this pair are partially populated in our dataset, but the full side-by-side definitions above should still guide you to the right choice.
With a confusion score of 40628, this pair ranks #1,502,978 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of liken vs linken
Shared letters: eikln. Private to "liken": -. Private to "linken": -.
"liken" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC · "linken" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "liken" for "linken" ever safe?
Frequency check: "liken" vs "linken" - which ranks higher?
After this comparison
Eye-level mix-up between "liken" and "linken" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "liken" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "linken" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,502,978 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "liken" and "linken" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "lauen vs liken". Nearby pair
- Recorded mistypes exist for at least one side of this pair, useful when a spell-checker or OCR lands on the wrong form. See mistypes
Confusion rank #1,502,978 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.